Describe the features of a carcinoid tumor.?

Variable: Carcinoid tumors are an uncommon tumor that can occur in the stomach, small intestine, appendix, or colon. There are few symptoms unless an intestinal blockage occurs. If they grow large they can become cancerous or spread to the liver. Carcinoid syndrome can be intermittent feeling of heat and redness of the face.

Slower growing: Carcinoid tumors can occur throughout the intestine and may act in a malignant fashion and spread to lymph nodes and other organs. They tend to grow more slowly that more common (adenocarcinomas) cancers in the intestinal tract. They can sometimes be cured with surgery and survival can be long term even after spread due to their nature of sometimes growing very slowly.

Mostly benign: Common tumor often found by accident, but occasionally found because they can cause cough or grow in a central airway and produce symptoms because of where they are, not how big. Most are benign, and require no treatment beyond resection (surgery), but a small proportion are more atypical (aggressive) and can spread. Carcinoid is one of the only common lung tumors unrelated to tobacco exposure.